Two F-16 fighters seems incorrect: the photos and the reports indicate only one. However, who ever thought this "photo op" was a good idea? I can't possibly imagine that the ensuing panic and bad press was unforeseeable. Is this just a cock-up? If it is, it's a real bad one.

Some pictures:(for the bottom one, ripped the link from the WSJ Flash slideshow for your convenience)

SUBJECT: Flight Notification- New York City -Statue of Liberty Photo Op, Upper New York Bay / Newark Bay on April 27, 2009, 10:00L. (amended 4/23)

The information in this document is considered FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, and should only be shared with persons with a need to know. Information in this document shall not be released to the public or media.

1. The Department of Defense (DOD), in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will conduct a flying photo op in the New York City Area on April 27, 2009 involving a transport and fighter aircraft. Below are the details regarding the operation.

The aircraft will depart ADW via IFR clearance as a three (3) ship formation to Sea Isle (SIE). At SIE one (1) of the fighters will leave the flight and return to ADW IFR via SIE ATR V308 BILIT ADW.

The VC25 and 1 F16 will proceed IFR to CAMRN intersection south of JFK. In the vicinity of CAMRN intersection the aircraft will cancel IFR and proceed VFR with New York TRACON (N90) towards the Verranzano Bridge. N90 will hand the aircraft off to Newark Tower (EWR) for the flight in the Upper NY and Newark Bay. Upon completion of the final pass the aircraft will be treated as a EWR departure and pickup an IFR clearance back to ADW.

The photo op portion of the flight will be VFR in accordance with the specified ground track as per the attached map (Attachment 1). On the northbound flight segments the fighter aircraft will be offset to the east by approximately ½ mile. During the southbound flight segment the fighter will re-position to remain offset to the aircraft within the depicted box.

The operation will be monitored by FAA Air Traffic Security Coordinators (ATSC) at the Domestic Event Network at FAA Headquarters from start to finish. Any questions or issues can be directed to the FAA ATSC at the DEN. The FAA ATSC can be reached at (202) 493-5107.

The Public Affairs posture for this effort is passive. No media or press releases are planned. Please direct all media inquiries to the FAA Air Traffic Security Coordinator at (202) 493-5107. Due to the possibility of public concern regarding DOD aircraft flying at low levels, coordination with Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies, emergency operations centers and aviation units has been accomplished.

"The photo op was combined with a training exercise to save money, according to another administration official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the behind-the-scenes discussions about the flight."

Military exercise huh? With a large airliner tracked by an F-16 flying circles at low altitude near lower Manhattan? There is something terribly wrong about this. It's just not possible that anybody in his right mind would pull this sort of stunt for an exercise slash photo opportunity. It's a terribly weak excuse, laughable almost. It's too early to tell, but this is what my gut feeling tells me: the Pentagon is intimidating the White House. "Look what we can do to your airplane. Look what we can do to your reputation. We will do to your country whatever we want. Reconsider releasing more classified memos."

Something like that. It reminds me of "Angel is next".

Edit: So what did the White House know?Monday, the White House issued an apology for the flyover. Louis E. Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, who served in the Clinton administration as secretary of the Army, said in a statement: "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision."
(...)When President Obama learned of the episode on Monday afternoon, aides said, he, too, was furious. Senior administration officials conveyed the president’s anger in a meeting with Mr. Caldera on Monday afternoon.
(...)Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Monday afternoon that he was unaware of the flyover. At his daily press briefing, Mr. Gibbs initially referred questions to the F.A.A. and the Air Force. When told that those government offices were referring questions to the White House, Mr. Gibbs said: “I have no information on this other than what I saw.”

And:The workers, who were on the 32nd floor of the construction site, said the plane circled three times past the Goldman Sachs tower, the tallest building in New Jersey. On the second pass, they said, the jet appeared to be only a few dozen feet from the building — close enough to clip the side of the skyscraper. A fighter followed right behind, mirroring its moves.

Johnny Villafane, 42, of the Upper West Side, said, “The plane did a 360. There was a vibration. The glass in the skyscrapers was shivering.” He added, “It sounded like the building were cracking, everything started shaking. I thought the plane was coming down.”

And your analysis is right on point. I havn't posted here in about a year (maybe longer)... but this event brought me back. This was a not-too-subtle warning to Obama!

But I'm reminded of something my mother sometime says... "they meant it for evil... God meant it for good!" All this is going to do... is bring 9/11 back to the forefront of national consciousness. We have the science on our side. Now is the time for the nano-thermite story to break.
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"Cogito ergo sum"

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The CONSTITUTION is NOT going to "collapse" into pulverized dust no matter how much thermate/explosives or planes they throw at it

White House official apologizes for low-flying Air Force One lookalike

By Raw Story

Published: April 27, 2009

Military jet in NYCUPDATES AT BOTTOM: Bloomberg ‘furious;’ White House official who approved ‘photo shoot’ apologizes

A number of buildings in the New York City area were evacuated Monday morning after a trio of low-flying planes flew near the Statue of Liberty.

“An Air Force One lookalike, the backup plane for the one regularly used by the president, flew low over Manhattan on Monday morning, accompanied by two F-16 fighters, so Air Force photographers could take pictures,” the New York Times reports. “But a lack of awareness about the flyover led to the evacuation of several buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, N.J., and perplexed officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other authorities were inundated with calls from anxious ferry passengers, office workers and residents in the area.”

“It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved,” FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. “It’s a military flight over New York to take photos.”

Peters added, “We’ve gotten reports several buildings in Jersey City were evacuated.”

One eyewitness told the New York Times, “People came pouring out of the buildings, the American Express Building, all the buildings in the Financial District by the water. And even the construction guys over by 100 North End Avenue area, they all got out of their buildings. Nobody knew about it. Finally some guy showed up with a little megaphone to tell everyone it was a test, but the people were not happy. The people who were here 9/11 were not happy. New York City police were standing right there and they had no knowledge of it. The evacuations were spontaneous. Guys from the floor came out, and one guy I talked to was just shaking.”

One NYC television station received a number of phone calls from New York City residents “furious that local authorities hadn’t notified anyone about the fly-over.”

“According to many callers who flooded CBS 2 with their concerns, at about 10 a.m. the aircraft were seen flying at low altitudes over the Statue of Liberty and parts of lower Manhattan,” WCBS reports.

One sample follows: “We saw a low-flying 747 buzz the Southwest edge of Manhattan, at Battery Park City, with a fighter jet appearing to chase it on its left wing. At about Rector Street or so, it took a hard left and looked to be headed straight for Jersey City. It flew over J.C., turned south, and continued to climb over Newark. It left our sight, only to return on the same path a second time about five minutes later. It was confusing and panicked the office. We dialed 9-1-1 and considered whether to evacuate. We were told by 9-1-1 that it was ‘authorized’ to be there. We later learned, from your website, that it was part of a DOD ‘photo op.’ NotifyNYC advises it was ‘part of an approved federal activity.’ To conduct a ‘photo op,’ unwarned in advance to Lower Manhattan residents and workers, in that manner was completely irresponsible.”

Newsday notes, “About 1,000 workers gathered along the Hudson River esplanade until a security officer with a bullhorn told them it was a planned exercise.”

“After the incident, New York City released an advisory that the flyover was ‘part of an approved federal activity,’” Reuters reports.

However, a city official revealed that the NYPD had been advised not to warn the public.

Curious that in these imperfect photos you can still clearly see the markings of the AF1, particularly the blue paintjob on the bow. And these are just two random pictures.

I don't recall ever being able to make out any markings whatsoever on the 9-11 aircraft - even though the number of different takes available is staggering. Both American and United use some red coloring, which should stand out much more than the presidential blue. Perhaps it's the color-covered area that counts, as AF1 does have a whole lot of the blue, while American and United markings are somewhat thinner in comparison. But still - no markings visible at all in any of the hundreds of images?

(Similar weather on both dates; actually yesterday's pictures seem hazier than on 9-11.)

Hello Truthseekers & Truthtellers,This flyover in NYC for a photo shoot is all BS. They can use Photo Shop to get the pictures they want. Obama recently came out with the torture memos and pissed off some higher ups from the last administration and probably some top military and CIA officials. I believe this was done to warn Obama and to embarrass him because of his release of the torture memos. It also takes the media to another place so they get off the torture memos. They don't make these kind of stupid mistakes. There are some battles going on inside this government.Take Care Matt

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The CONSTITUTION is NOT going to "collapse" into pulverized dust no matter how much thermate/explosives or planes they throw at it

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The CONSTITUTION is NOT going to "collapse" into pulverized dust no matter how much thermate/explosives or planes they throw at it